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Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Accident by Linwood Barclay, reviewed by Phyllis Humby

Published by Doubleday Canada (a Random
House imprint). Available here.

Linwood Barclay’s The Accident is a flashlight-under-the-covers kind of a
novel. No way are you going to put this book down until you’ve read every page.

I’m not going to tell you what
happens to the book’s main character Glen Garber that sends his life into a
tailspin. You can check that out on the cover. (Hint – it was an accident.)

Loved the prologue. Some
publishers say that prologues have no place in books anymore. I say they do. Barclay’s prologue is ingenious. You read far
enough into the story that you forget all about the prologue and then it
becomes one of those ah-ha moments. Gotta love that. The prologue was a great
way to jump into the action immediately to grab the reader’s attention. Then the
first chapter moves forward at a slower pace – but not for long. Before you
finish that cup of tea, you’ll be chasing behind Garber as he races towards the
truth.

It occurred to me that the
author sacrificed several good books by using their story lines up in this one.
Lots of characters and subplots that could have held their own.

There were so many twists and
turns that it felt like a rollercoaster ride. Believe me, I devour a lot of
suspense and I can usually read between the lines, see something coming, and
find stuff that doesn’t fit or make sense. While I was reading The Accident, that didn’t happen. Heck,
I couldn’t even find a typo.

Linwood Barclay

A few different times, I
thought I’d figured everything out and then actually chuckled aloud at being
left hanging in midair – knowing I’d been duped. Nothing predictable about this
plot. What a rush! An absolute masterpiece for all you whodunit fans. Barclay
manages to interweave all the connections until they seamlessly mesh.

Another admirable trait is the
development of the characters – characters are so important to me – and the
realistic dialogue. Man, he really nailed the dialogue. Nothing turns me off
faster than reading something that you know is not a natural fit. I admit to
being a character and dialogue nitpicker.

Barclay is a master plotsman.
Is that a word? It is now. He makes it look easy. It isn’t. Just when you think
the story is over – you lurch over another bump and turn the corner. Just when
you think you’ve figured out whodunit – you haven’t.

Even those last few pages had
me thinking Could she? Will he? The entire book was an adrenalin rush. If you
like thrillers as much as I do, it’ll be a winner for you too.

Tell you what, do not start
reading this book until you put the cat outside, feed the dog, and turn off
your cell.

Phyllis
Humbylives in rural Camlachie,
Ontario, where she indulges in her passion for writing suspense/thriller
novels. Her stories, often scheming, twisted, or spooky, have been published in
Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. In addition, she writes a humorous monthly
opinion column, “Up Close and Personal” for First Monday magazine.
She blogs here and her Facebook page is here.

Brian Henry has been a book editor, writer, and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He teaches creative writing at Ryerson University. He also leads weekly creative writing courses in Burlington, Mississauga, Oakville and Georgetown and conducts Saturday workshops throughout Ontario. His proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.